FIFA bans ex-German boss over World Cup bid

ZURICH, Switzerland: FIFA’s Ethics Committee has banned Wolfgang Niersbach, the former president of the German Football Association, for one year for failing to report potential misconduct surrounding the award of the 2006 football World Cup in Germany.

The adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s Ethics Committee barred Niersbach from all football-related activity, it said on Monday.

FIFA investigators had sought a two-year ban.

“The present case did not look into possible breaches of the FIFA code of ethics in relation to possible acts of bribery and/or corruption with regards to the award of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but only evaluated Mr Niersbach’s awareness of the said incidents and his failure to report them to the Ethics Committee in a timely manner,” the panel said in a statement.

Niersbach, who still sits on the world football body’s Council as well as Europe’s UEFA Executive Committee, resigned from the DFB presidency in November after he was unable to explain a 6.7 million euro ($7.4 million) payment from the German World Cup organisers to FIFA.

A report in May from the investigatory chamber of FIFA’s ethics committee - an independent bo0dy - found Niersbach had violated its ethics code and recommended to ban him for two years from all football-related activity and fined.

Niersbach, who has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing, said at the time he disagreed with the severity of the recommendations.

He said he was being investigated now for failing to inform FIFA’s ethics commission last year of the developments regarding the 2006 affair.